Slow Cooker Suppers For Busy Moms and Pregnant Mothers
I’m a mom of a two year old and carrying a baby in my womb. Making a healthy meal could be a huge task when you have to juggle between business, home and being pregnant.
Who wants to labor in the kitchen after working, taking care of kids’ activities, laundry, cleaning everyday? One of the most convenient, least time consuming and easy ways to create a healthy meal for the whole family is through slow cooking.
Picture this: putting all the healthy ingredients in a pot, set the timer and temperature and the aroma fills your home all day. Mouth-watering stews are ready for you when you are up from a nap, walk or work, your supper is waiting for you. No cold food, but warm comfort food waiting for you to devour with your family.
Here are four reasons why slow cooker suppers are the best ways to cook for busy moms:
One: Save time
All you need is the preparation time of rinsing, cutting and chopping the ingredients and adding them all in the slow cooker. Select the number of hours for cook time and dinner will be ready before you know it.
Two: Save energy
It definitely uses less electricity than the conventional oven or stovetop.
Three: No spilling or burnt food
Have you seen my burnt toast lately? Even toasted bread gets burnt sometimes with busy moms who need to attend to little kid’s needs. Your food will not spill or burn when you use a slow cooker.
Four: Less cleaning
You are only using one pot, chopping board and a knife. There is less cleaning to do like several pots, utensils, plates and bowls to hold cut meat and vegetables. Slow cooking allows you to place all your ingredients into the cooker without the need for multiple plates and bowls to hold raw meat and uncooked vegetables.
Most importantly, the whole family gets a healthy meal without compromising on time and effort. I’ve got a healthy Butternut Squash Barley Risotto recipe from GoodHousekeeping.com that I would like to share with you.
The preparation time is only 15 minutes and 235 calories per serving. Here are the ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter (can be substituted)
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 fresh thyme sprigs (can be substituted with dried thyme)
2 cups pearl barley
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 large butternut squash about 2 ½ pounds, peeled, seeded, cut into ½ inch cubes
Salt and pepper
1 oz. Parmesan cheese grated about 2/3 cups
2 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Please get the entire recipe from the website.
A slow cooker could be a busy mom’s secret weapon for healthy homemade food. We have control on the type of ingredients we add into the pot and watch what we eat everyday. Do you have a slow cooking recipe to share? We would love to hear from you.
The Best Slow Cooker recipe wins a TOTAL WELLNESS special gift! Send us your recipe from November 8th – November 28th and the best tasting and healthiest recipe wins.
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. It’s strictly for informational, educational, or entertainment purposes ONLY. The products I talk about are not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. Any information I give you about them is for informational or entertainment purposes only. They have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. Please seek the qualified health professional of your choice when making health decisions for yourself, your family and your pets.
Healthy Smoothies and Snacks Kids and Parents Love Without The Extra Sugars
Will you be supercharged by sugar filled drinks and snacks this season or will it be filled with immune-boosting healthy drinks and snacks? There is no way we can totally eliminate sugar from our diet especially during this time of the year.
As you prepare your kids with costumes and treats to giveaway, I would like to share with you a video I did last year:
Read our article on Healthy Halloween Tips.
Like so many families, we want to be a great example to our children when it comes to the way we live and eat. Still, occasionally we don’t follow through. How about you? We give ourselves grace and room to improve each day.
I’ve found out the best way to stay and eat healthy is to have three meals and two to three snacks a day. This plan will help improve your mood, energy and overall healthy eating habits without room for binging.
Here are some smoothies and snack ideas for you:
I found this smoothie recipe online called Popeye Smoothie:
1 tbsp. honey or substitute Agave, Yacon Syrup, or a hint of Stevia
1 tsp. peanut butter or almond butter
1-cup strawberries
1 cup Greek yogurt plain
1 small banana
2 tbsp. ground almond or flax
2 cups spinach or kale or collards
A friend on Facebook, Anna Enders Noblit makes applesauce with Thieves essential oil. You can be creative and use Young Living essential oils with fruits and preparing healthy snacks.
For a creative way of using avocado and Young Living essential oils, check out Tara Rayburn’s website.
One of our readers, Claudia and her kids love Coconut-Pineapple smoothie (found in Family Circle Magazine July 2012 issue). Here is the recipe:
2 cups fresh pineapple chunks (freeze for 3 hours)
1 17oz. coconut water (found in store, we use Vita Coco)
2 Chobani pineapple flavored Greek yogurt
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes (or unsweetened)
1 6oz. can pineapple juice
Fruits and vegetables are great snacks for kids and adults. Most store bought snacks are filled with high levels of sugar, trans fat, fats, sodium, additives, coloring, and chemicals and artificially flavored.
Huffington Post has a list of 12 worst Halloween candy and snacks we absolutely must avoid. They are flavored Tootsie Rolls, Smarties, Good and Plenty, Candy Corn, Dots, Now and Later, Strawberry Hard Candy, Bazooka Bubble Gum, Wax Bottle, Hershey’s Symphony, Necco Wafers and Mary Janes. (Source: Huffington Post October 17, 2012)
Do you have one of those in your pantry ready to give out as treats? Think again. As much as we want our family to eat healthy, what we give out to our neighborhood children is important too. Many of our children are living dangerously because of unhealthy snacks and drinks.
All of us have a role to play when we give out treats. If have a healthy recipe or treat to share go to my Facebook page and let me and our readers know what it is.
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. It’s strictly for informational, educational, or entertainment purposes ONLY. The products I talk about are not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. Any information I give you about them is for informational or entertainment purposes only. They have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. Please seek the qualified health professional of your choice when making health decisions for yourself, your family and your pets.